Rushworth is a small rural town located in the Campaspe Shire, with only a population of around 1,000 residents. It would come as a surprise to some that Rushworth itself has two schools, Rushworth P-12 College and a small catholic primary school. Rushworth P-12 College is the product of an amalgamation between Rushworth Primary and Rushworth Secondary School in 1996, and currently has 302 students (Rushworth P-12 College website, 2009). Greater than two thirds of the attending students travel daily to the school by bus and many come from the surrounding towns and areas such as Colbinabbin, Harston, Murchison, Nagambie and Stanhope. The largest towns closest to Rushworth are Shepparton, Kyabram, Echuca and Bendigo , where many families travel for their groceries and shopping needs.
Like most country schools in the area the college is actively involved in a number of health promotion programs. It runs a healthy canteen, is a dedicated sunsmart school and runs a very active after school care program for those who aren't bus travellers. The school is also a very active participant in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program in which students are allocated time out of their curriculum to maintain the garden and practice their cooking skills in the schools large kitchen. The school also participates in the 'Sowing the Seeds of Wellbeing' project involving a number of primary schools in the Campaspe Shire, run by former Latrobe student Carly Boutcher (Sowing the Seeds, 2009).
Rushworth P-12 is also a very physically active school involving physical activity and sport into their curriculum, running annual sports days for cross country, athletics and swimming days, many of the students travel to compete in regional events competing against other schools in the area.
Rationale
As Rushworth P-12 is already a healthy promoting school, we aim to work as a team to support the strategies already being used by the school, as well as introduce some new ones. The day will be based on the Health Promoting Schools Framework (Australian Health Promoting Schools Association, 2009) and will focus on target areas identified in needs assessment conducted at the individual, community and state levels.
All students have the choice of what they put in their body, we plan to teach students healthier alternatives, and food ideas they can cook themselves that may be different and exciting. Our main focus for the lesson is making Pizzas, not often considered a healthy alternative. We will concentrate on the ingredients put into and on pizza. We are aiming to highlight healthier options for the students to chose when making pizza at home. Students will also make fruit kebabs and fruit smoothies, to promote fruit consumption by showing the students more exciting and fun ways to eat fruit.
It was also discovered that the sport and physical activity education programs at Rushworth very rarely stray from the common Australian sports and focus on non-traditional sports. Students in country areas have very little access to lesser known sports and in most cases the local football and netball clubs are the only sporting opportunities on offer. We aim to introduce the students to various physical activities that they may not have experienced before. We plan to conduct a session on personal fitness as they may not have immediate access to gyms and so forth. Students will complete a boxing circuit with a qualified trainer, which will give them an idea of what they can do themselves. Students will then break into smaller groups and put together a small circuit of activities including pilates/yoga, weights/toning and aerobics. Students will learn skills to promote their own physical wellbeing and activities that they can continue once we leave.
Having completed these activities with the students we will have provided them with the extra knowledge and experience of cooking, eating healthy food and new and exciting ways to keep fit and active, which is what the Health Promoting Schools Framework is all about.
Strategic Planning Table
Objectives
Strategies
Performance Indicators
Partnerships
Introduce knowledge
and experience of
non-traditional games.
Boxing Circuit run by trained
instructor (Adam).
Mainly student run circuits
which include yoga/pilates,
Weights/toning and aerobics
Pre and post activity
discussions. Indentifying
prior knowledge and then
what they've learnt.
How engaged students are
during activities and games.
Evolution Gym for
Boxing equipment.
Provision of other
equipment through
Latrobe University.
Improve knowledge
and practice of
Healthy Eating.
Making pizza using healthier
ingredients. Promote healthy
alternatives to fast foods.
Create fruit kebabs and
smoothies as enjoyable snack.
Discussions with students.
Student reaction to eating
healthy alternative.
Follow up with teachers to
see if more kids bring fruit
to school.
Local Supermarkets
Local Community
Increase knowledge
and awareness of
gardening and personal
fruit and vegetable
production.
Have children working in the
school garden. Planting,
watering. Encouragement to
keep garden on going.
Student reactions to
working in the garden.
Student knowledge of
vegetable patch
requirements.
Stephanie Alexander
Garden Project
(SAGP)
Increase self esteem, and aid
students in making healthy choices.
Carefully planned activities
which aid to build students
self esteem and feel good about
themselves.
Discussion based inquiry
into students prior and post
knowledge.
Student engagement during
activity.
Outline of Organisation and Management
As we only have 8 members in our group we are going to use private transport to travel to Rushworth. We will decide on drivers when we meet next. The basic outline is as follows:
Time
Session
Activity
Team Member
9am till 11am
Morning Session
Warm Fuzzies
Self-esteem
Boxing
Pilates
Warm fuzzies- Kayla & Michael
Self- esteem- Kate & Catherine
Boxing- Zach & Adam
Pilates- Jess & Georgia
11:15am till 1:50pm
Middle Session
Fruit kebabs,
Healthy pizzas
Smoothies
Fruit Kebabs and Smoothies- Kayla,
Michael, Kate & Catherine
Healthy Pizzas- Jess, Georgia, Zach &
Adam
2pm till 3pm
Afternoon
Session
Warm Fuzzies
Self-esteem
Boxing
Pilates
Warm fuzzies- Kayla & Michael
Self- esteem- Kate & Catherine
Boxing- Zach & Adam
Pilates- Jess & Georgia
Health and Physical Education
A healthy, physically active lifestyle is conducive to more effective participation in all that society has to offer and greater levels of success within and beyond school. This requires students to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours that enable them to:
Maintain good health.
Understand the role of physical activity in ensuring good health.
Engage in physical activity.
Interpersonal Development
In our highly interconnected and interdependent world, students must learn to work with others by:
Building positive social relationships.
Working and learning in teams.
Managing and resolving conflicts.
The activities we will be doing with the students will be linked into both the health and physical education learning strand. For example doing work in relation to students 'building of positive social relationships' is required when doing health education about body image as those positive relationships need to be developing, so respect and a safe, comfortable environment between peers is created when the students embark on this type of activity. Rushworth has previously had lessons involving education on physical activity and healthy eating, using balance scales and food for energy systems.
Activities
Students will rotate between 4 activities throughout the day, these include pilates, boxing, warm fuzzies and choices. The middle session all students will be in the kitchen to make smoothies, pizza and fruit skewers. They will also rotate between the three.
Activities
Explanation
9:00am - 9.30am
Activity- Strength Cards
and Hand activity
Introduce ourselves, organise groups for the
day and wristbands
Give students an overview of the day and what
we have planned
Students will each pick two strength cards and
explain to the group why they feel it applies to them.
Students outline their hand on a piece of paper and
pass it around the group for other students to
write a positive compliment on.
Activities
1.Boxing-This Lesson is aimed to introduce students to
basic boxing techniques and training. As a result of this lesson
students will learn; Boxing safety and correct stance, Correct
technique for a jab, cross and uppercut hit,
Correct movement for ducking, How to combine hits into effective combos 2.Pilates- This lesson will provide an introduction to Pilates and Yoga.
The involvement in Pilates and Yoga will help them develop and refine
a range of movement and manipulative skills. They will gain a basic
understanding of the benefits and impacts on regular Pilates and Yoga
based exercises. Students will be able to demonstrate introductory-level
skills of both Pilates and Yoga. 3.Choices- Students will gain an understanding of how the choice they
make and the consequences that may result. Students will also discuss
how they felt when making the choice. From the lesson students will be
able to display health decision making skills. 4. Warm fuzzies- Students will learn to feel good about themselves, build
self esteem and self confidence. This activity aims to facilitate a supportive
learning environment and build on students relationships with in the class, to
make all students feel content with themselves and their class mates.
9:30am - 10:40am
Students will either particpate in pilates, boxing, warm
fuzzies or choices. The will rotate between 2 of
these during the morning session.
Three meals will be prepared:
1. Healthy Pizzas
2. Fruit Skewers
3. Smoothies
In group's students will prepare all three meals and
present them to the other groups before eating.
Students will need to explain the benefits of each fruit
and vegetable in their meals.
Activity - Discussion about
healthy food choices
Before eating students will have a brief discussion
about healthy food options and the choices students
can make.
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Students will do there final rotation for the day
they will particpate in 2 activities that they havent
done during the morning session.
Policy Documents Promoting Healthy School Policy
This policy was developed by Rushworth School Council. The main aim discussed in this document is "build a strong and healthy school community, knowledgeable of the services available and skilled in the making of decisions and choices". The school focuses on implementing this aim through three different areas: curriculum, teaching and learning; school organisation, ethos and environment; and community links and partnerships. This policy is evaluated every four years by the School Council. On Green Team's Health Activity Day, we plan to implement the School Health Policy by incorporating the areas of curriculum, ethos and environment and community links in an attempt to show the students that their health, and that of their school as an entire group, is all connected. We will be running activites, such as cooking to promote healthy eating, sports to promote exercise and running workshops on body image and self esteem to promote individual social and emotional health. We would like to express to students that health isn't just about being fit, it includes having relationships, being part of a community, feeling good about yourself and having good mental health. We hope that this day will be really positive and educate students on the roles they, their school, their families and their communities play in helping them achieve optimal health. Health Promoting School policy.doc
Healthy Foods Policy
As part of the Rushworth School Council review, a Healthy Foods Policy was developed. "To develop an informed appreciation of healthy eating habits within students" was one of the main aims of this policy. To achieve this policy, the school has developed a number of different implementations that we will be able to use on our healthy activity day including having lessons relating to healthy foods and healthy eating, encouraging students to drink water throughout the day, encourage students to be involved in healthy activities including the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden and promoting healthy activities and healthy food to name a few. We, as the Green Team, aim to have resources and educational practices in place to be able to show students the benefits of Healthy Foods and will run a discussion before lunch to talk about the benefits of being healthy. Healthy Foods Policy.doc
Student Wellbeing Policy
The third document implemented by Rushworth is the Student Wellbeing Policy. The three aims of this document work together "to provide an educational environment which recognises, values and builds student wellbeing; develops students who are physically and emotionally healthy; and work in partnership with parents/carers and the community to support students." On our healthy activity day, Green Team will help implement this policy by encouraging individuality, differences and diversity, using positive reinforcement and encouragement, using the Kitchen Garden to provide emotional, physical and social health, providing a broad array of activities and publicly recognising students work and achievements.This is an area that students probably don't think about as much when they think about being healthy but it is extremely important. That's why we want this day to be really fun and energetic to show the students that being healthy carries across all facets of life and everything we do affects our health.
Go For Your Life Canteen Policy
The School Canteen Policy is one that we may not have much baring on during the activity day, but we can extract from it during our cooking classes. This document makes it easy to decipher healthy from not-so-healthy foods by dividing them into Green/Everyday foods, Amber/Select Carefully foods and Red/Occasional foods. This allows the school the ability to manage their canteen in terms of what is deemed to be most important to student's health. Green team will try and implement the Green/Everyday foods idea in our cooking adventures. We will be using minimal red foods as these are only meant for every now and again and we believe that at school, students should bring green foods so that parents can treat and manage what their children eat at home. By using mainly green foods, we will be showing students that you can be healthy whilst enjoying really yummy snacks! Green Team want to promote the benefits of eating well and we will be doing this by abiding by the Canteen Policy. During our discussion before lunch, we will take into account what students normally eat for recess and lunch and help them work towards making better decisions about snacks if needed. Go For Your Life Canteen Policy.pdf
Risk Management
The tables below show the major risks that the team feel would be likely to occur on the day. The risks have been broken down into two of our three sessions which are cooking and sport. Another table has been of risks that will need be monitored throughout the day.
Cooking Session
Risk
Control
Likelihood
Outcome
Food
allergy
Team should have
knowledge of allergy prior
to session.
Probable
Aim to create meals without
known food allergy in it or
ensure student does not have
contact with this food.
Cuts/
burns
Team will oversee all
cooking exercises to ensure
students are being safe and
using correct utensils to
minimise risk of cuts/burns.
Moderate
Team members with first aid
will administer appropriate
treatment if necessary.
School must be informed as
student may need further
medical intervention.
Spills
Team will ensure that
students are careful with
their liquid items and that
there are measures in place
to deal quickly with spills -
clothes, paper towels, mops.
Probable
Students will need to be aware
of their surrounding and team
will monitor to ensure that the
spills that do happen are dealt
with as soon as they happen.
Hygiene
Team will have hygiene
measures in place and ensure
all students follow them- long
hair tied back, hands washed
regularly, etc.
Probable
Team will assess each student
and ensure the hygiene
is maintained at all times.
Students who are not willing
to comply will not be able to
participate in the cooking
activity
Sporting Session
Risk
Control
Likelihood
Outcome
Sporting
injury
Rules will be discussed
before activity is
commenced. Students
will do a warm up to
ensure no muscular
damage occurs.
Probable
Team members with first aid
will administer appropriate
treatment if necessary.
School is to be informed as
student may need further
medical intervention.
Pre existing
condition
Ensure all students
have the opportunity to
discuss the conditions with
team - eg knee soreness,
asthma, etc.
Probable
Students with intense
conditions/injuries will
be excused from sport.
Those who need puffers
may play as long as they have
their medication. First aid
qualified team members will need
to keep an eye on students
with conditions who are playing
sport to ensure they are
coping.
Emergency
Ensure that all medical
conditions are known and
team members to monitor
students progress in games
to keep an eye on
anyone struggling or
showing signs of
distress.
Unlikely
Administer first aid if necessary.
Keep staff close to help monitor
students. Call an ambulance
if first aid is not suitable for
emergency.
Wet weather
No real control over this
but have measures in
place to deal with wet
weather
Moderate
Team will have an alternative to
playing sport outside.
Other Risk Factors
Risk
Control
Likelihood
Outcome
Sunburn
All students will be wearing
hats and sunscreen during
outdoor activities. Team
will follow these measures
also.
Moderate
Students who are showing
signs of sunburn will need to
reapply sunscreen, drink
plenty of water and sit in
the shade. Assessment of
why this has happened will
have to be made and reported.
Dehydration
Students will be allowed to
have drink bottles with them
throughout the day.
Moderate/
Unlikely
Students who are showing
signs of dehydration will be
excused from sport to sit
down and drink plenty of
water. Assessment of why
this has happened will be
made and reported.
Ethos and Environment
Rushworth P-12 has a variety of different spaces in their schoolyard for physical activity. Some of these areas provide opportunities for specific sports to be played such as netball, basketball and cricket. During our healthy schools day we will refer to the school map (link below) to plan which areas we will conduct our activities in. The large oval will probably be the main area for our physical activity component of the day; however we will also utilize other areas of the school to conduct other activities such as the undercover BBQ area.
Link to Rushworth P-12 school map: http://www.rushworthp-12.vic.edu.au/map/school_map.html
Ethos in schools works to bring the school community together and to develop individuality through its values and beliefs as a whole-school. As a team, during our time at Rushworth P-12 we will need to ensure that we support the ethos of the school and also respect the schools environment. We will also aim to get the full potential from each student by recognizing students who may be having difficulty in some of the activities which we run and provide them with extra support and by challenging students who may be getting ahead. Our team will also focus on creating a positive and supportive environment for the students by focusing on a ‘no put down’ approach and also by using positive reinforcement. We will focus on supporting the student and wellbeing policy as well as the health promoting school policy by encouraging students to be physically and emotionally healthy through the activities we will aim to encourage this by supporting students to try something new.
In terms of the physical environment, we will use knowledge about the school and knowledge which has been gained about using the environment to increase student learning and to also control student behavior, especially while we are outdoors. To do this we will set clear rules for games in a bid to decrease arguments and disagreements and to also try and decrease any chances of bullying and unfair play. By having a set of activities which the students need to be involved in we will eliminate the option for them to go off and participate in their own activities. During our time outside we need to set boundaries so that students understand that they need to be involved in the activities that we are running and not becoming distracted by other things going on around the school. By setting boundaries students will also be more encouraged to take part in activities and their participation will be recognized as well, motivating them to want to take part in the activities day.
Evaluation Procedure
The days evaluation procedure will be divided into four parts:
1. This part involves the evaluation of students current knowledge through discussion. The discussion topics will be body image, health and nutrition and physical activity. During these discussions students can respond to questions by raising their hands, or by moving to different areas of the room signifying whether they agree, disagree or are undecided on a particular question. Students answers will be recorded as indicator of their thoughts and knowledge of the topic.
2. Students will be given a short questionnaire at the end of the day, that consists of general non-invasive questions regarding what the students have learnt during the day, what they particularly enjoyed and one area that they will work on improving in their lives as a result of the days activities.
3. An evaluation sheet will be given to the supervising teachers, so that they can evaluate the groups overall performance as a team and activities run throughout the day. There is also an area for the teacher to provide comments and feedback about the day.
4. There will be a form for each team member to fill out, allowing them to reflect on the day and comment on how successful they felt the day was, comment on how the group worked as a team and what areas could be improved for next time or what activities worked well.
Background Information
Rushworth is a small rural town located in the Campaspe Shire, with only a population of around 1,000 residents. It would come as a surprise to some that Rushworth itself has two schools, Rushworth P-12 College and a small catholic primary school. Rushworth P-12 College is the product of an amalgamation between Rushworth Primary and Rushworth Secondary School in 1996, and currently has 302 students (Rushworth P-12 College website, 2009). Greater than two thirds of the attending students travel daily to the school by bus and many come from the surrounding towns and areas such as Colbinabbin, Harston, Murchison, Nagambie and Stanhope. The largest towns closest to Rushworth are Shepparton, Kyabram, Echuca and Bendigo , where many families travel for their groceries and shopping needs.
Like most country schools in the area the college is actively involved in a number of health promotion programs. It runs a healthy canteen, is a dedicated sunsmart school and runs a very active after school care program for those who aren't bus travellers. The school is also a very active participant in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program in which students are allocated time out of their curriculum to maintain the garden and practice their cooking skills in the schools large kitchen. The school also participates in the 'Sowing the Seeds of Wellbeing' project involving a number of primary schools in the Campaspe Shire, run by former Latrobe student Carly Boutcher (Sowing the Seeds, 2009).
Rushworth P-12 is also a very physically active school involving physical activity and sport into their curriculum, running annual sports days for cross country, athletics and swimming days, many of the students travel to compete in regional events competing against other schools in the area.
Rationale
As Rushworth P-12 is already a healthy promoting school, we aim to work as a team to support the strategies already being used by the school, as well as introduce some new ones. The day will be based on the Health Promoting Schools Framework (Australian Health Promoting Schools Association, 2009) and will focus on target areas identified in needs assessment conducted at the individual, community and state levels.
All students have the choice of what they put in their body, we plan to teach students healthier alternatives, and food ideas they can cook themselves that may be different and exciting. Our main focus for the lesson is making Pizzas, not often considered a healthy alternative. We will concentrate on the ingredients put into and on pizza. We are aiming to highlight healthier options for the students to chose when making pizza at home. Students will also make fruit kebabs and fruit smoothies, to promote fruit consumption by showing the students more exciting and fun ways to eat fruit.
It was also discovered that the sport and physical activity education programs at Rushworth very rarely stray from the common Australian sports and focus on non-traditional sports. Students in country areas have very little access to lesser known sports and in most cases the local football and netball clubs are the only sporting opportunities on offer. We aim to introduce the students to various physical activities that they may not have experienced before. We plan to conduct a session on personal fitness as they may not have immediate access to gyms and so forth. Students will complete a boxing circuit with a qualified trainer, which will give them an idea of what they can do themselves. Students will then break into smaller groups and put together a small circuit of activities including pilates/yoga, weights/toning and aerobics. Students will learn skills to promote their own physical wellbeing and activities that they can continue once we leave.
Having completed these activities with the students we will have provided them with the extra knowledge and experience of cooking, eating healthy food and new and exciting ways to keep fit and active, which is what the Health Promoting Schools Framework is all about.
Strategic Planning Table
and experience of
non-traditional games.
instructor (Adam).
Mainly student run circuits
which include yoga/pilates,
Weights/toning and aerobics
discussions. Indentifying
prior knowledge and then
what they've learnt.
How engaged students are
during activities and games.
Boxing equipment.
Provision of other
equipment through
Latrobe University.
and practice of
Healthy Eating.
ingredients. Promote healthy
alternatives to fast foods.
Create fruit kebabs and
smoothies as enjoyable snack.
Student reaction to eating
healthy alternative.
Follow up with teachers to
see if more kids bring fruit
to school.
Local Community
and awareness of
gardening and personal
fruit and vegetable
production.
school garden. Planting,
watering. Encouragement to
keep garden on going.
working in the garden.
Student knowledge of
vegetable patch
requirements.
Garden Project
(SAGP)
students in making healthy choices.
which aid to build students
self esteem and feel good about
themselves.
into students prior and post
knowledge.
Student engagement during
activity.
Outline of Organisation and Management
As we only have 8 members in our group we are going to use private transport to travel to Rushworth. We will decide on drivers when we meet next. The basic outline is as follows:
Self-esteem
Boxing
Pilates
Self- esteem- Kate & Catherine
Boxing- Zach & Adam
Pilates- Jess & Georgia
Healthy pizzas
Smoothies
Michael, Kate & Catherine
Healthy Pizzas- Jess, Georgia, Zach &
Adam
Session
Self-esteem
Boxing
Pilates
Self- esteem- Kate & Catherine
Boxing- Zach & Adam
Pilates- Jess & Georgia
Standards by Domain
Health knowledge and promotion
learning
Working in teams
Health and Physical Education
A healthy, physically active lifestyle is conducive to more effective participation in all that society has to offer and greater levels of success within and beyond school. This requires students to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours that enable them to:
Interpersonal Development
In our highly interconnected and interdependent world, students must learn to work with others by:
- Building positive social relationships.
- Working and learning in teams.
- Managing and resolving conflicts.
The activities we will be doing with the students will be linked into both the health and physical education learning strand. For example doing work in relation to students 'building of positive social relationships' is required when doing health education about body image as those positive relationships need to be developing, so respect and a safe, comfortable environment between peers is created when the students embark on this type of activity. Rushworth has previously had lessons involving education on physical activity and healthy eating, using balance scales and food for energy systems.Activities
Students will rotate between 4 activities throughout the day, these include pilates, boxing, warm fuzzies and choices. The middle session all students will be in the kitchen to make smoothies, pizza and fruit skewers. They will also rotate between the three.
Activity- Strength Cards
and Hand activity
day and wristbands
Give students an overview of the day and what
we have planned
Students will each pick two strength cards and
explain to the group why they feel it applies to them.
Students outline their hand on a piece of paper and
pass it around the group for other students to
write a positive compliment on.
basic boxing techniques and training. As a result of this lesson
students will learn; Boxing safety and correct stance, Correct
technique for a jab, cross and uppercut hit,
Correct movement for ducking, How to combine hits into effective combos
2. Pilates- This lesson will provide an introduction to Pilates and Yoga.
The involvement in Pilates and Yoga will help them develop and refine
a range of movement and manipulative skills. They will gain a basic
understanding of the benefits and impacts on regular Pilates and Yoga
based exercises. Students will be able to demonstrate introductory-level
skills of both Pilates and Yoga.
3. Choices- Students will gain an understanding of how the choice they
make and the consequences that may result. Students will also discuss
how they felt when making the choice. From the lesson students will be
able to display health decision making skills.
4. Warm fuzzies- Students will learn to feel good about themselves, build
self esteem and self confidence. This activity aims to facilitate a supportive
learning environment and build on students relationships with in the class, to
make all students feel content with themselves and their class mates.
fuzzies or choices. The will rotate between 2 of
these during the morning session.
(Lunch break included)
Activity Three- Cooking
1. Healthy Pizzas
2. Fruit Skewers
3. Smoothies
In group's students will prepare all three meals and
present them to the other groups before eating.
Students will need to explain the benefits of each fruit
and vegetable in their meals.
healthy food choices
about healthy food options and the choices students
can make.
they will particpate in 2 activities that they havent
done during the morning session.
Policy Documents
Promoting Healthy School Policy
This policy was developed by Rushworth School Council. The main aim discussed in this document is "build a strong and healthy school community, knowledgeable of the services available and skilled in the making of decisions and choices". The school focuses on implementing this aim through three different areas: curriculum, teaching and learning; school organisation, ethos and environment; and community links and partnerships. This policy is evaluated every four years by the School Council. On Green Team's Health Activity Day, we plan to implement the School Health Policy by incorporating the areas of curriculum, ethos and environment and community links in an attempt to show the students that their health, and that of their school as an entire group, is all connected. We will be running activites, such as cooking to promote healthy eating, sports to promote exercise and running workshops on body image and self esteem to promote individual social and emotional health. We would like to express to students that health isn't just about being fit, it includes having relationships, being part of a community, feeling good about yourself and having good mental health. We hope that this day will be really positive and educate students on the roles they, their school, their families and their communities play in helping them achieve optimal health.
Health Promoting School policy.doc
Healthy Foods Policy
As part of the Rushworth School Council review, a Healthy Foods Policy was developed. "To develop an informed appreciation of healthy eating habits within students" was one of the main aims of this policy. To achieve this policy, the school has developed a number of different implementations that we will be able to use on our healthy activity day including having lessons relating to healthy foods and healthy eating, encouraging students to drink water throughout the day, encourage students to be involved in healthy activities including the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden and promoting healthy activities and healthy food to name a few. We, as the Green Team, aim to have resources and educational practices in place to be able to show students the benefits of Healthy Foods and will run a discussion before lunch to talk about the benefits of being healthy.
Healthy Foods Policy.doc
Student Wellbeing Policy
The third document implemented by Rushworth is the Student Wellbeing Policy. The three aims of this document work together "to provide an educational environment which recognises, values and builds student wellbeing; develops students who are physically and emotionally healthy; and work in partnership with parents/carers and the community to support students." On our healthy activity day, Green Team will help implement this policy by encouraging individuality, differences and diversity, using positive reinforcement and encouragement, using the Kitchen Garden to provide emotional, physical and social health, providing a broad array of activities and publicly recognising students work and achievements.This is an area that students probably don't think about as much when they think about being healthy but it is extremely important. That's why we want this day to be really fun and energetic to show the students that being healthy carries across all facets of life and everything we do affects our health.
Go For Your Life Canteen Policy
The School Canteen Policy is one that we may not have much baring on during the activity day, but we can extract from it during our cooking classes. This document makes it easy to decipher healthy from not-so-healthy foods by dividing them into Green/Everyday foods, Amber/Select Carefully foods and Red/Occasional foods. This allows the school the ability to manage their canteen in terms of what is deemed to be most important to student's health. Green team will try and implement the Green/Everyday foods idea in our cooking adventures. We will be using minimal red foods as these are only meant for every now and again and we believe that at school, students should bring green foods so that parents can treat and manage what their children eat at home. By using mainly green foods, we will be showing students that you can be healthy whilst enjoying really yummy snacks! Green Team want to promote the benefits of eating well and we will be doing this by abiding by the Canteen Policy. During our discussion before lunch, we will take into account what students normally eat for recess and lunch and help them work towards making better decisions about snacks if needed.
Go For Your Life Canteen Policy.pdf
Risk Management
The tables below show the major risks that the team feel would be likely to occur on the day. The risks have been broken down into two of our three sessions which are cooking and sport. Another table has been of risks that will need be monitored throughout the day.
Cooking Session
allergy
knowledge of allergy prior
to session.
known food allergy in it or
ensure student does not have
contact with this food.
burns
cooking exercises to ensure
students are being safe and
using correct utensils to
minimise risk of cuts/burns.
will administer appropriate
treatment if necessary.
School must be informed as
student may need further
medical intervention.
students are careful with
their liquid items and that
there are measures in place
to deal quickly with spills -
clothes, paper towels, mops.
of their surrounding and team
will monitor to ensure that the
spills that do happen are dealt
with as soon as they happen.
measures in place and ensure
all students follow them- long
hair tied back, hands washed
regularly, etc.
and ensure the hygiene
is maintained at all times.
Students who are not willing
to comply will not be able to
participate in the cooking
activity
Sporting Session
injury
before activity is
commenced. Students
will do a warm up to
ensure no muscular
damage occurs.
will administer appropriate
treatment if necessary.
School is to be informed as
student may need further
medical intervention.
condition
have the opportunity to
discuss the conditions with
team - eg knee soreness,
asthma, etc.
conditions/injuries will
be excused from sport.
Those who need puffers
may play as long as they have
their medication. First aid
qualified team members will need
to keep an eye on students
with conditions who are playing
sport to ensure they are
coping.
conditions are known and
team members to monitor
students progress in games
to keep an eye on
anyone struggling or
showing signs of
distress.
Keep staff close to help monitor
students. Call an ambulance
if first aid is not suitable for
emergency.
but have measures in
place to deal with wet
weather
playing sport outside.
Other Risk Factors
hats and sunscreen during
outdoor activities. Team
will follow these measures
also.
signs of sunburn will need to
reapply sunscreen, drink
plenty of water and sit in
the shade. Assessment of
why this has happened will
have to be made and reported.
have drink bottles with them
throughout the day.
Unlikely
signs of dehydration will be
excused from sport to sit
down and drink plenty of
water. Assessment of why
this has happened will be
made and reported.
Ethos and Environment
Rushworth P-12 has a variety of different spaces in their schoolyard for physical activity. Some of these areas provide opportunities for specific sports to be played such as netball, basketball and cricket. During our healthy schools day we will refer to the school map (link below) to plan which areas we will conduct our activities in. The large oval will probably be the main area for our physical activity component of the day; however we will also utilize other areas of the school to conduct other activities such as the undercover BBQ area.
Link to Rushworth P-12 school map:
http://www.rushworthp-12.vic.edu.au/map/school_map.html
Ethos in schools works to bring the school community together and to develop individuality through its values and beliefs as a whole-school. As a team, during our time at Rushworth P-12 we will need to ensure that we support the ethos of the school and also respect the schools environment. We will also aim to get the full potential from each student by recognizing students who may be having difficulty in some of the activities which we run and provide them with extra support and by challenging students who may be getting ahead. Our team will also focus on creating a positive and supportive environment for the students by focusing on a ‘no put down’ approach and also by using positive reinforcement. We will focus on supporting the student and wellbeing policy as well as the health promoting school policy by encouraging students to be physically and emotionally healthy through the activities we will aim to encourage this by supporting students to try something new.
In terms of the physical environment, we will use knowledge about the school and knowledge which has been gained about using the environment to increase student learning and to also control student behavior, especially while we are outdoors. To do this we will set clear rules for games in a bid to decrease arguments and disagreements and to also try and decrease any chances of bullying and unfair play. By having a set of activities which the students need to be involved in we will eliminate the option for them to go off and participate in their own activities. During our time outside we need to set boundaries so that students understand that they need to be involved in the activities that we are running and not becoming distracted by other things going on around the school. By setting boundaries students will also be more encouraged to take part in activities and their participation will be recognized as well, motivating them to want to take part in the activities day.
Evaluation Procedure
The days evaluation procedure will be divided into four parts:
1. This part involves the evaluation of students current knowledge through discussion. The discussion topics will be body image, health and nutrition and physical activity. During these discussions students can respond to questions by raising their hands, or by moving to different areas of the room signifying whether they agree, disagree or are undecided on a particular question. Students answers will be recorded as indicator of their thoughts and knowledge of the topic.
2. Students will be given a short questionnaire at the end of the day, that consists of general non-invasive questions regarding what the students have learnt during the day, what they particularly enjoyed and one area that they will work on improving in their lives as a result of the days activities.
3. An evaluation sheet will be given to the supervising teachers, so that they can evaluate the groups overall performance as a team and activities run throughout the day. There is also an area for the teacher to provide comments and feedback about the day.
4. There will be a form for each team member to fill out, allowing them to reflect on the day and comment on how successful they felt the day was, comment on how the group worked as a team and what areas could be improved for next time or what activities worked well.
Resources and Budget
Pizzas
Fruit Skewers
Strawberry and banana smoothie
Mango yogurt smoothie
Resources
Rushworth P-12 College (2009). About us. Retrieved August 20, 2009, from http://rushworthp-12.vic.edu.au/about.html
Australian Health Promoting School Association (2009). Retrieved August 20, 2009, from http://www.ahpsa.org.au/
Go For Your Life (2009). Go For Your Life Healthy Canteen Kit. Retrieved August 17, 2009, from http://www.education.vic.gov.au/mangement/schooloperations/healthycanteen/default.html
Sowing the Seeds (2009). Sowing the Seeds, Retrieved August 20, 2009, from sowtheseeds.spaces.live.com